Stoned Alone

“”Stoned Alone” is my attempt to define where I came from, to capture my musical growth from when I first started making music December 2005, and to also present much new material, to show where the growth brought me.

As far as compiling the tracklist, there is no way I could have done it without being turned on to Beck’s “A Western Harvest Field By Moonlight.”  The similarities are few, in the end, but I think the spirit of his record is something that guided me and pushed me forward a bit, to challenge myself, and also to think that “hey, this is possible.”

The title itself comes from a Syd Barrett penned Pink Floyd song that nobody ever heard, so I figured nobody would mind if I borrowed it.  It is a great name in that it encapsulates the spirit behind the 2009 recordings, the ones made specifically for what would become this album.

All those recordings were made at my computer, when I was home alone.  Making my music was my way of getting stoned, and it still is.  So, if you feel a little daring, tune your mind into this one, and lets get “Stoned Alone” together!”

-Catch The Reference?, August, 2009.

1. “Introducing Catch The Reference?”
-recorded as a intro to the Jester Demo Album during the first stages of mixing in February/March of 2008. Done at Catch The Reference?’s computer.  This is the first occurrence of Catch The Reference? indulging in feedback manipulation, a la John Lennon in “Cambridge 1969,” or “John John (Let’s Hope For Peace.)”

2. “Blue Melancholy”
-recorded during a “Capricorn” session, that is, the sessions from which many of the acoustic tracks on the Jester Demo Album hail from.  It was done in The Batcave on 12/27/2007, after Peter had left for the night.  It was made while attempting to find chords reminiscent of Led Zeppelin’s “The Rain Song” (namely John Paul Jones solo from the live “Song Remains The Same” version, which is in a different key from the studio one.)

3. “Lucid Dream”
-recorded 12/21/2007 the first day of the “Capricorn” sessions.  It is a poem Catch The Reference? wrote.  The recording is heavily edited, cutting out numerous strange lines, including one about Jamie Lynn Spears, who had just revealed her pregnancy (hence the mention of pregnancy.)  Catch The Reference? was concerned her pregnancy would lead “Zoey 101” to get canceled without a proper ending.  William filmed the performance, and can be heard in the beginning, and at the end, where he says “you wanna see the footage?”

4. “The Rights Of The Reeds”
-this ambient track is made from snippets of sound from the “Maytag Live” track.  Mixing of this track probably occurred in May of 2009.  The track name (made separately from the track itself) is meant to evoke imagery of either The Fantastic Four or an estuary, depending on the listener’s mood.

5. “Banshee Cry”
-a clip from “An Early Evening Exorcism,” the second track from “Feedback-Laden Fantasies,” with harmony effects.  Inspired both by the rediscovery of the “Feedback-Laden Fantasies” recordings and also by reading and hearing previews of Lou Reed’s “Metal Machine Music.”  Probably mixed in September/October 2008

6. “Caribbean Daydream (The Hammock Song) Strings Mix”
-recorded on a virtual keyboard on Catch The Reference?’s computer.  Made in December 2008 or January 2009, and is one of the first recordings made with the intention of being on a solo album. This mix puts the virtual strings at a relatively high volume compared to other tracks.  “Wizards Of Waverly Place” was a show Catch The Reference? was discovering at the time.

7. “Dicey Circumstances”
-short keyboard piece, recorded in the Batcave in early to mid 2006.  Recorded on micro-cassette.  (Microcassette recordings may be presented at either double or half speed.)

8. “White Winter February”
-recorded at Catch The Reference?’s computer (and featuring the bass drum from “Cait, Oh Cait!”)  Made over two sessions. Started in January/February 2009, finished possibly February 3rd or 10th.  It was originally called “Harmonica Groove.”  Uses the track “Syd Barrett.”  On the first or last day recording was done, it snowed, and Miranda Cosgrove’s EP “About You Now” came out.  It started snowing during Theology class with Ms. Sheena.  This, and many 2009 tracks, were made on a Tuesday or Wednesday, when Catch The Reference? would have the house to himself.

9. “Keyboard Demo”
-made using the virtual keyboard on the computer, sometime in early 2009.  Somehow, “The Wall” era Pink Floyd was an inspiration behind the notes.

10. “Plaza 67 (Off Ither)”
-Plaza 67 is a place in Queens where there is a little caged walkpath that crosses over LIRR tracks.  It inspired a song, and this keyboard piece was recorded while that song was being attempted.  “Off Ither” is the name given to the bit of sped up vocals.  Note that the music is perhaps better credited as “Instrumental” rather than “Plaza 67.”  Recorded on microcassette in early to mid 2006.  (Microcassette recordings may be presented at either double or half speed.)

11. “Flaming Red Prayer” (Catch The Reference?, Peter Krow, & William Gerrard)
-“Prayer” was recorded by Catch The Reference? in his room, after borrowing William’s little keyboard, late on March 14th, 2008.  It originally had no title, and may have first been cataloged as “American Handstand.”  However, when it was decided for inclusion on the Jester Demo Album, the name was changed to “Prayer,” in response to William bemoaning the lack of religion in the music industry.  It has since been cut from the demo album to be included here, where it is mixed with the “Flaming Red Hair Spacey Outro.”  This outro sounds like it could have been featured in the Pac Man 20th Anniversary game, and is played by Peter on keyboard and William on clarinet.  It was recorded on 12/28/2007, and had been tacked on the end of “Flaming Red Hair” for the demo album, before being cut to appear here instead.  The last bit is from “Flaming Red Hair,” and is the bridge, with Peter on guitar and William on clarinet.  This is from the demo album, and was recorded on 12/27/2007.

12. “Ode To Joy” (Beethoven)
-this classic song crops up many times on early Jester reels, and Catch The Reference? decided to do a cover of it to experiment in creating arrangements.  The entire track was cut at Catch The Reference?’s computer using a virtual keyboard, sometime in early 2009.

13. “That’s Berlin, Syd!” (Catch The Reference?, Peter Krow, & William Gerrard)
-here is a mash-up of two tracks, “That’s Berlin, Pop!”, and “Syd Barrett.”  The former is by William and Peter, on drums and guitar, respectively and made sometime in early 2008, while the latter is a well-mixed reading of Syd Barrett’s life by Catch The Reference?, made in early 2009.

14. “Super Rhythm Track”
– an excerpt of material used in “Batman & Robbin.'”

15. “I Kissed A Girl” (Katy Perry, Dr. Luke, Max Martin, Cathy Dennis)
-another experiment, Catch The Reference? decided to record a cover of this Katy Perry pop song by only recording the chord.  Lo and behold, the chords are all the same, so a concise cover clocked in at 11 seconds.

16. “I Kissed A Girl” (Katy Perry, Dr. Luke, Max Martin, Cathy Dennis)
-the same recording, with half a second edited out.  The song was recorded with a virtual keyboard, and getting chords was difficult.  So these recordings are actually just the resonating sound the occurs after the chord is struck.  Recorded in early 2009.  Catch The Reference? was a fan of this song since it first stirred controversy in 2008, and loved to change the line “and I liked it” to “and I like d***” when singing it for leisure.

17. “Early In The Morning” (traditional/arrangement by Ginger Baker)
-“Early In The Morning”, is, essentially, a Ginger Baker song.  Catch The Reference first discovered it in 2008, on a 1970 live recording, “Ginger Baker’s Air Force,” where it sprawled for 11 minutes, and featured vocals by Denny Laine.  In February 2009, Catch The Reference? got some Graham Bond ORGANization albums, where Ginger does the number, and decided to make a hurried cover.  It was done with multi-tracking at the computer.  A virtual keyboard overdub was done, but deleted.  All of the sounds, save for percussion and vocals, are actually Catch The Reference? manipulating tracks of him playing a recorder.  The intro is one of the multi tracks isolated, as a lead in.

18. “Wonderwall Sound”
-this short ditty comes from Catch The Reference?’s micro-cassettes, and was recorded in early 2006, but not before April, as Catch The Reference? only got George Harrison’s “Wonderwall Music” as an early present in mid-April.  It was the song “Greasy Legs” that inspired this piece, which was recorded in William’s basement.  William even remarked that is was one of Catch The Reference?’s best. (Microcassette recordings may be presented at either double or half speed.)

19. “Ambient Fudge”
– like “The Rights Of The Reeds,” this is made from various samples from the source track “Maytag Live.”  Reading about Brian Eno and listening to iTunes samples of his work informed the mixing of this track, which occurred in Spring of 2009.

20. “Stoned Alone”
-after reading about dub and reggae music in the school newspaper office (where seniors would gather to play computer games like Bloons, or to ogle over pictures Emily Osment), Catch The Reference? decided to make a reggae inspired remix of “Harmonica Groove.”  On it’s own, it was frighteningly awful, but with overdubs, the track evolved, and became one of Catch The Reference?’s first complete arrangements recorded as a solo artist.  Recording was done into the night in February or more likely March 2009, and during that night, much reading was done into the work of John Cage.

21. “Twilight Rain”
-an early virtual keyboard noodle, this is also an experiment in harmony, as many short tracks of randomly hitting keys on the bass setting were pitched manipulated, and laid atop one another.  Despite working on the computer, early tracks such as this featured the “bounce” technique of overdubbing, which Catch The Reference? would later avoid.  January or February 2009.  Maybe even the same day as “Early In The Morning.”

22. “Cow & Farm/What Shall We Do?/Woodhaven Bull (Rehearsal)” (Catch The Reference? & William Gerrard)
– early summer of 2006 saw this recording, which was made in William’s basement.  “Cow & Farm” is The Jester (Catch The Reference? & William) playing along to a keyboard preset melody.  Longer takes exist, but are more of a bother to listen to.  Next is “What Shall We Do?,” which is named in reference to Pink Floyd’s “The Wall,” and is a short keyboard interlude.  It is unlikely, but possible, that William played it.  Finally, we get a fly on the wall peek into the session where “The Woodhaven Bull” was given a keyboard backing.  William plays the keyboard, while Catch The Reference? occasionally sings along.  The song had first been demo-ed, as just vocals and tambourine, in February of 2006, but here, the arrangement was developed that would go mostly unchanged by time the Jester hit the studio to do a professional take on this cleverly obscure and pointed take on teenage urban social drama. (Microcassette recordings may be presented at either double or half speed.)

23. “Banshee Man (In The Digital Age)”
-same story as “Banshee Cry” ( in fact, there is an overlap between the two tracks.)  The first time Catch The Reference? heard the term banshee was in an episode of “Tiny Toons,” that took place in Ireland.

24. “Good Friday (On A Holy Saturday)”
– in a decidedly sharp and ironic tone, Catch The Reference? decided to non-nonchalantly mock religion and name this track “Good Friday,” before remembering that it was actually Holy Saturday, 2009 (April 11th).  This track is based on the acoustic jazz that Jack Bruce released on his album “Things We Like.”  The driving force is the virtual keyboard-made bass. Other aspects include a section of heavy breathing (a la Paul McCartney in “Kreen-Akrore”), and a delay effected drum solo (like Ginger Baker in Blind Faith’s epic “Do What You Like.”)  Feedback is dubbed over most of the song, to give an unsettling layer.  Also, a sample of “Maytag Live” is used as one point.  This song is one of the songs made on a Saturday, a day as productive as Tuesdays and Wednesdays at one point.  Like those days, Catch The Reference? had the house to himself, while little sister was at karate with the parents.

25. “Frozen Melt”
-the first and most impressive ambient track made from the “Maytag Live” samples (not counting songs actually submitted to \\\Maytag, although this arguably beats even them.)  Inspiration came from reading about Brian Eno’s method for making “Discreet Music.”  It was rejected for inclusion with the \\\Maytag project, but only because, while being a great cut, it was not bwoomy enough to fit in with \\\Maytag’s grim M.O.

26. “Batman & Robbin'” (Catch The Reference?, Peter Krow, & William Gerrard)
-the story this track elicits can fill up a page itself, but instead, it is best to give only a brief overview (note some omissions in the following story are taken up in other places.)  The idea was to make a sound collage out of Jester recordings.  Taking bits from the Demo album (namely Pick & Gravel), along with clips of the student band from William’s high school (recorded in Spring of 2006, and not featuring William, who had already played for the night in the junior band, and was now sitting in the back of the Auditorium with Catch The Reference?, bootlegging the show), (and one original clip, that of rain falling), the track was made.  This occurred in the summer of 2008.  Months later (with an Ellen Page soundbite removed), the track was resurrected, and a new part was made, inspired by the remixing done for Paul McCartney’s “Liverpool Sound Collage” (an album which was a subtle inspiration even during the original mixing, and somewhat while making the Jester Demo Album.)  A sample of a girl was turned into a bass, and a loop was made with a clip of “Cait, Oh Cait!” (one full bit, unlooped, is what made “Super Rhythm Track”).  Then, other clips, sourced from microtapes, are heard.  They are available in full either on other album tracks, or on “Stoned Alone b-sides!”  Mixing first done in summer of 2008 on William’s computer, later in late 2008/early 2009 on Catch The Reference?’s computer.

27. “The Outro” (Peter Krow & William Gerrard)
-a clip of a jam between William and Peter, recorded in March (or Febraury) 2008.  Also used on the Jester Demo Album.

28. “Bonus Track” (Catch The Reference?, Peter Krow, & William Gerrard)
– first some virtual noodling, in the spirit of James Bond (and then Pink Floyd’s “Dogs”), before cutting to a remixed clip from “Batman & Robbin'”.

That’s all, folks!

all tracks composed by Catch The Reference? unless otherwise noted.

all tracks performed by Catch The Reference? except 11, 15, 22, 26, & 28 performed by Catch The Reference? & The Jester and 27 solely by the Jester.

The Jester-
Peter Krow – guitar (acoustic and electric)
William Gerrard – clarinet, drums, keyboard on “Woodhaven Bull rehearsal”

produced by Catch The Reference?